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That's an interesting graphic, and somewhat hypnotic. I was born in 1968 and there were a lot of Michaels in my elementary school class, and I was one of four Davids. My son Ethan was born in 2002, and he is once of five Ethans in his elementary school class. We chose the name Ethan because in 2001 it was number 17 or so in the most popular name list, and then shot to number 2 in 2002. Strange how that works out.

Interesting. I had seen the corresponding graphic for girls (link), which seems to offer greater variety throughout the years. However, there are many popular girl names that sound similar, like Jessica, Jenifer etc.

My brothers name is William Jacob, two of the most popular names. He wound up naming his son Jacob William, yeah so make of that what you will. I'm Thomas Edward, while Thomas was one of the more popular name, no idea where Edward came from. I could have been named Kelly Lee as my mom wanted to do before my father overruled her. Kelly was a good friend of my fathers, who was suppose to be my godfather until he was killed in a car crash.

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I tried to show Junior some racism today and it was thwarted by the cops and Whitey.

I've always wondered how people with "popular" names deal with that. I think it would annoying as hell having lots of people in your life with the same name as you.

Personal experience in having an uncommon name would suggest that having a common name is more comforting for kids, being "normal" and all that. I hated my first name up through my teen years, though have come to accept that it works well against my surname. Luckily my first name wasn't easily corruptible too

Scott is a fairly common name, but I'm the only Scot I know who spells his name with one "T." (It wasn't my idea, but I kind of like it.)

I laugh at Death wrote:

My brothers name is William Jacob, two of the most popular names. He wound up naming his son Jacob William, yeah so make of that what you will.

Probably a way of giving the son his father's name without the confusion that can result from being a Suchandsuch, Jr.

Or a son can have his father's first name but a different middle name, like the Reagans or the Bushes. Or the son can use a different nickname, e.g. Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Jr. who goes by "Rod" Roddenberry.

__________________“All the universe or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?”

This is pretty neat - can anyone pin down any possible cultural reasons for the boom in certain names for short periods.

It is indeed interesting, especially how state trends overlap the national thread, but regional variations (North-West, New England, South) are significant.

For very obvious reasons, last year I did some research on names (meaning, origin, popularity, etc), but of course it was for Italy, so the threads are very different.

For the record, while the most common names for the whole population in Italy are still the old-fashionate Giuseppe and Giovanni for men, and Maria and Anna for women, the most common baby names in Italy in the last 10 years are Francesco and Alessandro for boys, and Giulia and Sofia for girls. Foreign names are a growing trend (especially English names, so it's not something specific to the immigrant population), but I'm a bit wary of them: sometimes they sound cool, but more often than not they are just awkward, and end up being horribly mangled by Italian speakers.

When we were choosing the name of the kid, each of us had a few favourites (Alessandro, Luca, Michele, Marco, Davide, to say a few), but we were also looking for a name that was short, simple, common but not overwhelmingly popular. Dario was not on our mind at first, but it started to grow on us, and in the end we were very pleased with the selection. (It doesn't sound either too cute or too stuffy, it's easy to pronounce, has a nice meaning, and translates well in other languages.)

I've always wondered how people with "popular" names deal with that. I think it would annoying as hell having lots of people in your life with the same name as you.

Personal experience in having an uncommon name would suggest that having a common name is more comforting for kids, being "normal" and all that. I hated my first name up through my teen years, though have come to accept that it works well against my surname. Luckily my first name wasn't easily corruptible too

I've always wondered how people with "popular" names deal with that. I think it would annoying as hell having lots of people in your life with the same name as you.

Personal experience in having an uncommon name would suggest that having a common name is more comforting for kids, being "normal" and all that. I hated my first name up through my teen years, though have come to accept that it works well against my surname. Luckily my first name wasn't easily corruptible too

As someone with an extremely uncommon name in the US, I disliked it for maybe a couple grades in elementary school, then grew to love it. I'd much rather have my name than a common one. That being said, I wouldn't want some random uncommon name. Mine is unusual here because it's Indian, but my parents are from India so it makes sense. If they had picked an unusual name from somewhere else or just done an unusual spelling of a common name, I might feel differently.

And yes iguana, I like that your son's name is fairly easy to say even for non-Italians. I don't think that sort of thing is a requirement, but it's definitely a bonus when it's a name you already like.